Americans at the Tour de France

Tom Danielson

5 / 8

Garmin-Sharp has had a nightmare first week at this year’s Tour. Two of its general-classification hopes, Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal, have left the race because of crash-induced injuries. Sprinter Tyler Farrar has struggled in the sprints; what's more, he crashed several stages in a row.

Tom Danielson started the Tour as one of the general-classification hopes for Garmin. Those hopes ended when he fell victim to two of the many spills during the Tour's opening week. The Coloradan crashed, separated his shoulder, and still finished Stage 3 on Tuesday. Then, three days later, he got mixed up in the massive crash that butchered about half the field on Stage 6.

Surprisingly, Danielson suffered no fractures, but he said later that it was the worst crash he'd ever had and that he could barely move from the combination of bruising and road rash. On Sunday he headed home. To add insult to injury, somewhere on the road to Metz lies Danielson's wedding ring, which he lost in the crash.